


Life's a Rollercoaster

by vanishingbyler



Category: Ackley Bridge (TV)
Genre: Amusement Parks, Field Trip, Getting Together, Kissing, Locked In A Room trope, M/M, set a few months after episode 10, the endgame we deserve
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-08
Updated: 2018-08-08
Packaged: 2019-06-24 00:59:36
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,587
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15618933
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/vanishingbyler/pseuds/vanishingbyler
Summary: The sun is setting over Alton Towers when Nasreen Paracha knocks on Cory’s door. It’s been two months since what he now refers to as ‘the incident’. He and Nav are close still, but neither one of them talks about that night. Cory isn’t sure which of them considers it more of a touchy subject.





	Life's a Rollercoaster

**Author's Note:**

> i have a lot of feelings about ep 10 so heres this i guess, i needed some fluff to soothe me

The sun is setting over Alton Towers when Nasreen Paracha knocks on Cory’s door. It’s been two months since what he now refers to as  _ ‘the incident’.  _ He and Nav are close still, but neither one of them talks about that night. Cory isn’t sure which of them considers it more of a touchy subject. 

 

Nas sits beside him without even so much as a hello. 

 

“We need to talk about Naveed.”

“Hello to you too.”

“I’m not messing about, Cory. I actually need to talk to you.”

“Why? Me and him’ve talked, we’re alright. We’re mates.”

“Do you want to be  _ just  _ mates?”

 

That stops Cory in his tracks.

 

He wasn’t really expecting this school trip to devolve into a dissection of his ever-confusing sexual orientation. In the two months since he slept with Nav, he's been with at least three girls a week, and not a single guy. He's now been with every girl in year 12, and half of year 13, and he hasn't dared look up from his own shoes in the changing rooms before PE, at the risk of seeing one of the boys and thinking back to quite how much it made  _ sense  _ to be with Naveed. 

 

He's kind of afraid of how much he misses that night. He's not gay, he's  _ not,  _ but that evening alone meant more to him than any one of the hundreds of girls he's messed around with in his time. Looking back, he feels as though Naveed is the only one night stand he could really have seen himself staying with beyond that night. If school hadn't come and shattered the bliss, he doubts he would even have got out of bed that day. The idea of lying there all day with Nav and talking through anything and everything seems so much more  _ right  _ than what actually happened, a boring day of Biology and Psychology, rugby club and lunch with lads he never really connects to. 

 

He wishes he hadn't fucked it all up, but how does Nasreen expect him to explain all that? Does she think he's going to sit there and tell her that no, he's never felt anything for a girl, and he wants to jump into his best friend's arms this minute and never leave? He may have been going to school with Nas for over a year, but he doesn't  _ know  _ her. They're not close enough for him to divulge all this.

 

“Cory?”

“I don't know. Maybe.”

“That's not what you've told him.”

 

Cory can't make eye contact. 

 

“I don't know what to tell him, Nasreen. I don't even fucking know what to tell myself.”

“Do you like him?”

“I'm not gay!”

“But are you straight?”

 

He falters, and she takes that as an answer. Ruffling his hair, she walks out of the room with a smile. 

 

A few minutes later, she shoves Nav through the door, picks up Cory’s keycard from the side table, and leaves again. 

 

“You two can come out again when you know what's going on with you.”

 

The boys are close enough that this, thankfully, isn't awkward. Cory just slides over in his bed and pats the space beside him. Naveed flops down thankfully.

 

“I'm sorry about her.”

“Don't worry about it.”

 

Cory isn't looking at Nav. His eyes are trained on the overly colourful curtains, as well as the questionable stains on the tan carpet. Basically, he wants to focus on absolutely anything other than the eyes of the boy that makes him question everything.

 

“She's doing the right thing. Not the easiest thing like, but the right one.” Cory stumbles over his words. “I really,  _ really  _ like you, but I don't know how to make sense of that.”

“What do you mean?”

 

He's grateful to Nav for not sounding accusatory or tired - he genuinely wants to make sense of Cory, and that's powerful. It's nice when somebody doesn't just say they care, but shows it. 

 

“I've never liked a guy before. I've never really  _ liked  _ a girl either, but I can do whatever with them and it doesn't make me feel… dirty? I don't know.”

“I get you.”

“No, you don't. Man, I want to be able to say I have feelings for you because I feel right when I'm with you. But I can't, because I'm always getting told that it's wrong, and what am I s’posed to do with that?”

“You think I don't know how it feels to be told it's wrong to be gay? Cory, I've been having homophobic bullshit shoved down my throat as long as I can remember. I understand.”

 

They go quiet again. Naveed turns to look at Cory, takes in the way his hands shake and his eyes are blinking back tears. If Cory sees him looking, he doesn't draw any attention to it.

 

Before either of them can say another word, Nav takes Cory’s hand in his. It stills the trembling and finally gets him to make eye contact. 

 

There's something new in his eyes. Well, not new, but definitely long buried. He looks to be at peace. 

 

“Can I kiss you again?”

“Depends. Will you shove me out after and not talk to me for the rest of the trip? Because I'm gonna need someone to hold my hand if we get on Sub-Terra tomorrow.”

“I won't, I promise.” There's rare sincerity in his voice. “I want to really try this time. I want it to mean something.”

 

Naveed leans in, but Cory makes the final push. Their lips meet for the third time since they've known each other, and this time somehow makes even more sense than the last. There's a finality to it, a promise that this time, neither one will pull away in fear. 

 

When it breaks apart, Cory leans his forehead against Nav’s. Their eyes don't break apart, not even for a moment, and everything seems to finally make sense.

 

“I think I might love you.”

 

Nav sits up. It's pretty much the furthest thing from what he expected Cory to say.

 

“Are you sure?” He doesn't want to get his hopes up. 

“Yeah. I've not felt it before, except with you. That has to mean something, right?”

A smile forms across both of their faces. “I think so. I hope so.”

 

Cory cups Naveed’s face in his hand, no longer shaking. He pulls him close and kisses him again, slowly and carefully, as if one wrong move will shatter all the progress he's made. 

 

“I don't know if I'm gay, though. I know I'm not straight, but I don't know what I  _ am.  _ I'm sorry if that's not what you wanna hear.”

Naveed rolls his eyes and, once again, presses his lips to Cory’s. “I don't want to hear anything. It doesn't matter what you label yourself as, or what you don't. All I care is that you're comfortable with me. And that you don't keep hurting me, or yourself.”

“I'm sorry.”

“I know.”

 

When Nas comes to let them out again an hour or so later, they've talked through a lot. They've agreed that they're going to be halfway public. Cory is ready to hold Nav’s hand outside the comfort of his home, for example, but he's not sure he feels safe kissing him in public. He wants to call him his boyfriend, but not in front of his dad. After some extensive googling (and a fair bit of comforting on Naveed’s part) he's decided that the closest thing he can find to explaining his sexuality is pansexual demiromantic. He's afraid of the words, and Nav has had to assure him many times that he doesn't  _ need  _ to label it - that even a basic understanding of his feelings can be just as empowering as having a name to put to them. 

 

Cory is asleep, having cried. Naveed knows him well enough to know how big a deal it is that he let himself be seen in tears. He's an emotional person, of course, but he hates to let people see that side of him. He doesn't like feeling exposed. 

 

So when tears slipped down his cheeks and he gasped for breath into Naveed’s chest, Nav just held him until it stopped. He let Cory feel free for the first time in so long, and let him pass out in the safety of his arms.

 

Nas coos at the sight. 

 

Needless to say, Naveed doesn't return to his own hotel room that night. He stays with Cory until Mr Simpson comes knocking on the doors next morning, calling everyone up for their last day at the amusement park.

 

If, when they arrive at the queue for Nemesis, Riz clocks that Naveed’s hoodie is, in fact, Cory’s iconic red one, he doesn't comment. He also doesn't comment when Cory’s hand slips into Nav’s just as they reach the entrance to the ride. All he says comes as Cory is buying the photo of the three of them, mid-scream, zooming around a tight bend. 

 

“Be good to him, yeah?”

“I will.”

“Or he'll break your neck. Unless I do first.”

 

They both laugh, and decline to tell Cory why when he comes over to them. Cory just rolls his eyes and pecks Nav on the cheek, after a quick glance round to make sure none of their classmates are there. 

 

It’s taken a long time, but neither one of them could be happier with where they are now. It's been a rollercoaster, but the only way from here is up.


End file.
